First Lady’s new gown, courtesy of Iran’s Fars News

Images of Michelle Obama after censors had their way with her dress, and beforehand (via Associated Press)

If Hollywood’s Academy Awards can be counted on for being overly long, the show in modern times has also proven it can be counted on for provoking viewers — from the choice of host and his or her comedic material to questionable fashion choices on the runway.

Whether what you’re seeing or hearing is offensive if, of course, in the eye (or ear) of the beholder.

In the Western world, few viewers were rankled by starlets’ fashions, which trended toward old-style glamor: long gowns either slim or full-skirted, with modest bodices and nary a nipple in sight.

But in Iran, the Fars news agency was so offended by the surprise Oscar appearance of first lady Michelle Obama, who wore a figure-flattering gown, that its editors altered a photo of her to make it look like she was more covered up than she was.

Obama presented the “Best Picture” award to Ben Affleck’s “Argo” via satellite from the White House. She wore a glittering Naeem Khan sheath that featured a tank top bodice that shows her chest and bare arms. In the doctored photo, she is given a higher neckline and short, capped sleeves.

(Officials in Iran have criticized the film as “anti-Iranian” for its portrayal of the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran in 1979.)

Then there was Seth MacFarlane’s material as host, which has been construed in some corners as witty, urbane and generally funny, and in other corners as misogynistic for its focus on women as sex objects.

For those in the latter camp, proof came from an opening number called “We Saw Your Boobs” that focused on glimpses of the bared breasts of accomplished actresses in Hollywood films (not porn flicks), his joke about the weight of plus-size singer Adele, and a skit with Oscar-winning actor Sally Field (now a woman of a certain age), who was informed that MacFarlane thought she was hot when she played Sister Bertrill on “The Flying Nun” and Gidget (more than 45 years ago.)

Critics may not have been mollified had there been commensurate songs about the spotting of mens private parts or comments about Christopher Plummer’s 1967 sex appeal, but where sexism is concerned, such offerings would have contributed to parity. Or maybe they wish those Iranian censors could have gagged MacFarlane for his gags.